Votwo gonna do? Triathlon triumphs

The first event of a year is always a tough race, but this one was at Dorney Lake; a well-established, flat course with beautiful smooth roads. This short Votwo Gatorade 5k/20k/5k duathlon is always a good lung opener to start your season. To make the most of the potential for a PB, a number of Imperial College Triathletes drove there in the early hours of Saturday. The team included Alex Milne, Aimee DiMarco, Paul Bryant, Tom Pearson and Hugh Mackenzie. The day dawned bright, cold and worryingly windy. The lake is extremely exposed and with a course consisting of out and back loops it meant running/cycling directly into a head wind and then returning with a tail wind pushing you along. Despite my reservations, I knew this was going to make for some exciting racing.

The start, as always at these short events, was rapid with people quickly gaining 50m or so. This was no major worry, and as the first few kilometres progressedthe race started to unfold. Alex, myself and a well-known duathlete Nick Shasha formed a front group of three and we steadily developed a lead pack entering T1 in 16.27. Following a rusty transition I came onto the bike in second, a fair distance behind Alex. However we were straight onto the smooth tarmac around Dorney Lake, and with a strong following wind I was soon hitting 53 kph. Just before the first 180° turn I had caught up with Alex, however, having not read the course map very well I veered off towards the ditch whilst he calmly undertook me again. Once I had managed to get round the turn I settled into a strong rhythm, and overtook Alex once again before setting about building a lead. Heading into T2 an Imperial alumnus Richard Winchester had taken third place off Nick Shasha so it was looking like an Imperial 123.

The run off the bike is always testing, but with the following wind it felt as if we were really flying. Then we went round the turning point into a brick wall of head wind, my Garmin started telling the truth and cramp set in. However I was able to settle into a good pace and extended my lead. Alex also ran well consolidating his second place, however Richard was unfortunately piped in the final stretch by Nick for third place. Aimee DiMarco had a strong race. having just recovered from injury she powered through to finish in 6th place. Tom Pearson also had a notable performance competing in his very first duathlon. A strong cycle leg pushed him up the pack to finish in 30st place out of 173 people.